Karen
Suurtamm

Karen
Suurtamm

Karen Suurtamm received her MA in English Literature from Concordia University (2005), where she studied class, surveillance, and the limits of archival desire in 19th century literary representations of the photographer. She then received her MISt (Archival Studies/Library and Information Science) from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information in 2008. Since then, Karen has worked as a records manager and archivist in academic archives, including Victoria University, York University, and the University of Toronto, and as a freelance researcher and teaching assistant at Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, and Trent University. At the University of Toronto Archives & Records Management Services (UTARMS), she was responsible for acquiring, arranging, and describing the records of prominent faculty members, coordinated the Archives’ outreach and instruction program, and co-chaired the steering committee overseeing implementation of integrated archival description across nine repositories at the university (discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca). Professor Suurtamm taught as a sessional instructor for the iSchool in Winter 2019 and was the recipient of the 2018/19 MISC Outstanding Instructor Award. She joined the Faculty as an Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream) on a two-year appointment in July 2019.

Research

Professor Suurtamm’s research has spanned several fields including education, literature, photography, and archives. In her archival practice, she has explored the nature of personal records, researched online archival descriptive systems, and is always interested in the ways in which archives connect to their publics, including through online representations of archival material, outreach, and instruction. Her current research interests are twofold. First, she is exploring the ways in which experiences of incarceration are represented in archives. Second, she is considering how archival workplaces can transform practices by including radical, participatory decision-making practices that share power with new professionals and community groups.

Westheimer, Joel, and Karen Emily Suurtamm, eds. “Section 8: The Politics of Social Justice Meets Practice: Teacher Education and School Change.” In The Handbook of Social Justice in Education, edited by Bill Ayers, Therese Quinn, and David Stovall. New York: Routledge, 2008.

Suurtamm, Karen Emily. “Toeing the Line and the Law: First Amendment Rights in Schools.” In Pledging Allegiance: The Politics of Patriotism in America’s Schools, edited by Joel Westheimer. New York City: Teachers College Press, 2007.